Montoya: Dixon may be biggest challenger for title

SONOMA, Calif. – Juan Pablo Montoya leads second-place Graham Rahal by 34 points entering the Verizon IndyCar Series season finale Sunday at Sonoma Raceway. But the Team Penske driver seems to be gazing further down the chart, to third-place Scott Dixon, to find possible impediments to a first title since returning to open wheel racing last season.

“To go in there, Graham, yeah, it could still happen,” Montoya told USA TODAY Sports, “but the other guy you’ve got to really look at is Dixon. Dixon is only 47 points away with double points. Even if he doesn’t win he’s going to finish way up there.”

Dixon, attempting to win a fourth IndyCar championship with Chip Ganassi Racing, has two wins at Sonoma, including last summer. He’s stalked Montoya with a strong second half, including a win at Texas Motor Speedway and a fourth-place finish at Mid-Ohio on Aug. 2. He also won on the streets of Long Beach in April.

Montoya, who was fifth at Sonoma last season, has a win – in the opener at St. Petersburg, Fla. – and four top-fives in eight street/road course races this season. He’s not finished worse than 11th off an oval this year. But the prospect of double points does concern him.

“With double points in the last race, in a way, I think it’s kind of unfair,” he said, “but that’s the rules we play by, so we’ll go there and we’ll do the best we can.